Gods of the Blood
book by Mattias Gardell

Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism is a book by Swedish scholar Mattias Gardell discussing neopaganism (in particular Germanic) and its relationship to white separatism, as well as the broader white supremacist right. It was published by Duke University Press in June 2003. Gardell was then an associate professor on history of religion at Stockholm University. The book was based on several years of field work he had conducted among such movements that he undertook during the 1990s, and several interviews with members of those movements. The book received largely positive reviews.
Background and publication history
The book's author was Swedish historian of religion Mattias Gardell, then an associate professor on history of religion at Stockholm University. He had authored previous books on the subject of race and religiosity, including In the Name of Elijah Muhammad about the Nation of Islam in 1996.
In writing the book, Gardell interviewed several members of white supremacist pagan movements. The book is largely based on five years of fieldwork among such movements that he undertook during the 1990s. Gods of the Blood was first published by Duke University Press in June 2003.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as book by Mattias Gardell. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5576881. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2003 and 1996.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gods of the Blood” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.